Three years on, India’s cheetah reintroduction struggles with poor science, delays, and missed grassland goals. In September 2022, the arrival of eight cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno National Park was hailed as a conservation milestone. Five months later in February 2024, 12 more spotted cats arrived from South Africa. The initiative, branded Project Cheetah, carried lofty ambitions. It aimed not just to restore the world’s fastest land animal to India’s landscapes, but to revive open natural ecosystems (ONEs) — the grasslands, scrublands, and savannahs that are among the country’s most neglected habitats. By reintroducing a top predator, policymakers hoped to spark wider conservation attention, diversify India’s wildlife portfolio beyond tigers and forests, and make ecological amends for a human-caused extinction. The Cheetah Action Plan set out a clear roadmap: import 5–10 cheetahs annually for a decade, create a metapopulation across multiple states, secure and restore grassland hab...
In a country where wildlife conservation revolves around tigers- the top predator playing a pivotal role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem, the significance of snow leopard -an important species, seems to be ignored and overlooked. Shy and solitary, snow leopards are found in India high up in the Himalayas, the source of most of our fresh water and 3 perennial rivers – the Ganga, Yamuna and Brahmaputra, lifeline of over 500 million Indians. Without the snow leopard, the Himalayan ecosystem will be adversely affected, impacting the rivers too. Healthy population of snow leopards also indicates good health of the Himalayas .Ignoring this eco -system would be like a Himalayan blunder.On the World Snow Leopard Day this year on October 23, we call upon all those concerned with the issue to underline the importance of the elusive cat and not undermine it. Protect Glaciers to Save Leopards Protecting the ...